Anyone else planning to buy Snow Tires?

I was just curious if anybody else is planning to buy Snow Tires for their VT for winter? I commute roughly 80 miles per day and I have to be in whether we have a blizzard or not, so I need traction. I read a bunch of reviews on the stock Kumho's on TireRack and everybody who drove those in snow said they were awful.

So far it looks like TireRack only has 1 Snow tire in the OEM size for the VT--

Go with a smaller steel wheel and snows. The tires will be way cheaper and you won't hurt your nice 18" wheels. Steelies from tire rack are only $50 a piece. I got steelies and snows shipped to my door for $640.

I'm in Edmonton so its winter for 10 months or so. I have General Altimax Arctics on my MK6 GTI and plan on buying the same for my VT. They got the best reviews. Thinking of 17" on some stock Veloster wheels I found on ebay. I will NOT drive a nice new car with steelies on it.

I'm in Edmonton so its winter for 10 months or so. I have General Altimax Arctics on my MK6 GTI and plan on buying the same for my VT. They got the best reviews. Thinking of 17" on some stock Veloster wheels I found on ebay. I will NOT drive a nice new car with steelies on it.

I'm with you, there's no way in hell i'm gonna roll around on ugly ass steelie wheels on a brand new Veloster Turbo.

I considered going smaller or buying another set of wheels, but in actuality I want to get a nice set of rims for the Summer w/ sick summer tires and then I was going to just use the Stock wheels as my Winter set.

I also wasn't sure if I should go smaller for the winter because at some point I'll probably be putting a BBK on the car and that would likely require the minimum OEM wheel size to fit.

I am planning to drop to 16" rims but get somewhat decent Alloy rims, don't want to go to steelies either. I think I will get the Michelin X-Ice3. While I have the stock off for the winter, I will try to sell them and then get a new set of 18' rims and tires for the summer.

It generally isn't worth trying to save money by using your stocks for winters. A good deal on tires and 16" alloy wheels wouldn't cost that much more than winter tires for the stock 18". Unless you are completely set on keeping the stock wheels, you could just sell them and you should be ahead still and could put the different saved after selling towards your winter wheels/tires.

I have had pretty good luck with Continental Extremecontact DWS, they perform well in dry, and awesome in wet, and as well as you can expect in snow.
Before my Trans Am had no grip in wet with my BFGs, but I have been pretty happy with these conti's

It generally isn't worth trying to save money by using your stocks for winters. A good deal on tires and 16" alloy wheels wouldn't cost that much more than winter tires for the stock 18". Unless you are completely set on keeping the stock wheels, you could just sell them and you should be ahead still and could put the different saved after selling towards your winter wheels/tires.

I've thought about this too, however I always keep in the back of my mind that I don't keep my cars for very long and when I go to sell or trade it's nice to have the OEM wheels lying around.

granted I plan to keep my VT for a long time, I always say that and usually don't. But i'm hoping i'll be different this time around.

The idea of using stock wheels for winter with snow tires is, I always have them around the day I am ready to unload the car, and again for the summer I want to have a nice set of aftermarket wheels. The stockers are OK but I like to have a unique look to my car. I would love to get a nice set of Volks next summer.

But yeah, I am totally undecided on what to do for this winter.

Also, can you run the TPMS with smaller wheels, how does that work? Or can you only run those with the OEM wheels? I don't think i've ever had a car that had TPMS.

Everyone's position is different. I will still have my stocks stored somewhere as spares or for when I sell. I consider my summer and winter wheels an investment. If they fit and look good on my next car (especially if I decide to sell instead of driving to the ground) then great, if not, I have decent to nice wheels that would still fetch a pretty penny (if I've kept them in good condition). On the flip side, if I don't sell the car I have the wheels I want for a long time or can even sell the wheels and change to a new look without a huge financial burden at any point and then the only thing I lose is the potential $$ I could have had by selling the stock wheels/tires instead of keep them stored somewhere. I just chalk it up to opportunity cost of having the wheels I want. Fair trade off in my books for either situation but it all depends on yourself, the financials and the market you are in. In the GTA here, there isn't much you can't put back on the market to sell as it is filled with consumers who are willing to spend in every segment.

P.S. My situation is also slightly different in that I'm in no rush to buy my summer wheels as I find the stock one very unique (however better tires would have been nice) but also because since I plan to keep them as spares, there is no point keeping them mint with minimal mileage. Anyway, because I'm willing to wait before completely the look I want and getting the tires and feel I want, I wait for a really good price before I make my purchase.

I've thought about this too, however I always keep in the back of my mind that I don't keep my cars for very long and when I go to sell or trade it's nice to have the OEM wheels lying around.

granted I plan to keep my VT for a long time, I always say that and usually don't. But i'm hoping i'll be different this time around.

The idea of using stock wheels for winter with snow tires is, I always have them around the day I am ready to unload the car, and again for the summer I want to have a nice set of aftermarket wheels. The stockers are OK but I like to have a unique look to my car. I would love to get a nice set of Volks next summer.

But yeah, I am totally undecided on what to do for this winter.

Also, can you run the TPMS with smaller wheels, how does that work? Or can you only run those with the OEM wheels? I don't think i've ever had a car that had TPMS.

TPMS can go in anywheel its just a little module that goes in place of the valve stem

I agree with getting alternate wheels/tires for winter time use. The smallest wheels that will fit the VT are 16's due to the size of the brakes. I'm running some 15" Moda M9's (aluminum alloy wheels which look almost like a "negative" of the stock Tech wheels) with General Arctic Altimax 195/65/15's. I got them shipped from the Tirerack for about $650 last year. It was far cheaper to get the set of 4 mounted, balanced, and shipped than it was to get a set of 18" snow tires alone.

I posted this in the tech section a week or two ago, but it doesn't hurt to post here:

Just finished putting my winter tires/wheels on my Veloster turbo - the inner surface of the 16x7 Borbet LV5 rims clear the front calipers by a lot more than the OEM 18" rims. 205/55R16 General Altimax Arctic tires complete the package - thanks to my friends at Tirerack. Now I'm ready for a snowy Chicago winter and potholes.

Now that I've driven on them for a bit, be aware that the increased sidewall height and softer, thicker tread does make a noticeable difference in feel at speed on dry pavement.

I ordered a set of Sparco 17" red rims with X-Ice 2 for my winters. Keeping my 18" stock turbo rims for summer, although when the stock rubber wears out on the 18's, I may buy another set of 18" rims with new rubber and sell the stock 18 rims.

"If there is a god, then why did he make me an athiest?" - Ricky Gervais

I just priced out a set of 16" alloy wheels w/ Snow tires from Tire Rack and it's about the same price as just buying Snow tires in the size of 215/45/18. I think i'm just going to go with that size for my stockers and call it good. I really don't want to mess around with swapping the TPMS sensors and all that crap.

If I understand that correctly you intend to just use the 18" size for winters and keep switching the tires? Swapping tires constantly can affect the seal. Although it isn't forbidden, it can be quite damaging especially if not done properly. Luckily in Canada we don't have to worry about TPMS, but even if we did, I would just not install them on my winters and just let the pretty light stay on during the winter. Good luck with whichever route you decide to go.

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